A bipartisan study finding “indisputable” evidence of torture for which the highest United States officials bear responsibility should spur the US government to thoroughly investigate detainee abuse since September 11, 2001, and provide redress to victims.

The publication of the long-awaited summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA’s torture provides a useful moment to consider the lessons learned from this sorry chapter in American history and the steps that might be taken to avoid its recurrence.

The US Senate Intelligence Committee’s report summary on the Central Intelligence Agency detention and interrogation program is a powerful denunciation of the agency’s extensive and systematic use of torture. The 525-page partially redacted summary, released on December 9, 2014, is part of a 6,700-page classified report that the committee has still not indicated it plans to release.

The scheduled trial in Chad of 26 former state security agents of the Hissène Habré dictatorship is a significant step in the long struggle of the survivors for justice. Amid fears that the case was being rushed through, however, Human Rights Watch called on the Chadian authorities to ensure that the trial, to begin in N’Djaména on November 14, is carried out in a fair and transparent manner.

141 African human rights groups from 32 countries today issued an open letter expressing support for the efforts by Senegal and the African Union to prosecute crimes committed during the rule of former Chadian president Hisséne Habré.

– Tunisian authorities should conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the death of a man on October 3, 2014 who was allegedly tortured and abused during his arrest. Relatives of Mohamed Ali Snoussi who viewed his body told Human Rights Watch that he had injuries on the back of his head and bruising on his back, arms, and legs. Human Rights Watch viewed photographs showing the injuries.